A Tayside woman has been found by her grandson after being brutally murdered in South Africa.
Sandra Malcolm, originally fromMonifieth, was found reportedly hacked to death inside her Cape Town home.
Police are now hunting those behind the killing of the 74-year-old, who had been planning a visit to see family in Dundee next month.
Nephew Colin Chalmers said the family had been left “distraught” by the murder.
He said his parents, her sister and brother-in-law were devastated, adding: “I’m absolutely gobsmacked. I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before it’s completely shocking.
“All I know is that my auntie has been murdered. I don’t want to court any of the rumours around it because we know very little at this stage.”
Details are still emerging of how thepensioner came to be found in her flat at Capri Mews complex, Marina Da Gama.
South African news networks reported that her body had been mutilated by her attackers, although police would notconfirm this.
Mrs Malcolm’s body was found by her grandson on Sunday morning, prompting a large emergency operation.
Police said a post-mortem will beconducted to determine the exact cause of death.
Cape Town paper the Daily Voice quoted neighbours who said Mrs Malcolm was last seen on Saturday afternoon.
They said they did not hear any gunshots or sounds of struggle during the night or on Sunday morning.
It is believed her grandson climbed through a bathroom window to investigate after she failed to answer her door.
Forensic experts and detectives onSunday combed the scene for hours, with traumatised neighbours and relativesstanding around.
A neighbour, who asked not to beidentified, told the Daily Voice theywere horrified by the murder.
“This is a quiet community. This isshocking I still cannot believe it,” he said.“I saw her on Saturday afternoon last. She had some friends over.”
He described his murdered neighbour as “friendly”, adding: “It’s so strange because we didn’t hear anything, nostruggle or a gunshot.”
Police spokesperson Captain FC Van Wyk said: “The motive for the killing is unknown at this stage. A post-mortem will be held to establish the exact cause of death.”
Having lived in South Africa for 35 years, Mrs Malcolm is survived by twodaughters, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.Country living in fear of crimeSouth Africa is no stranger to crime, writes former St Andrews student and Cape Town resident Christopher Smith.
Its homicide ratesconstantly rank among the highest in the world, and the image so well burnished by the 2010 World Cup has recently been sullied by a series of high-profile court cases.
The trial of OscarPistorius in particularhighlighted how fear of home invasions plays in the psyche of South African householders.
I, for one, struggled to feel completely at ease moving from the quaint streets of St Andrews back home to Cape Town.
Even my flat in theaffluent suburb ofRondebosch had beenburgled a total of four times in the previous year.
I had to adjust from barely bothering to take out a set of keys, to setting alarms and locking cage doors.
Police would paint adifferent picture and, in many ways, they are right.
The statistics for home burglaries have gone down consistently for the past 10 years.
However, it is not clear if this is due to their own efforts, or those of private security companies, whose personnel now outnumber the police.
Further, many people in South Africa simply no longer trust the police, believing them inefficient, overly violent and corrupt, and therefore do not bother to report crimes.
Nonetheless, even with best policing, it would seem crime will continue unless serious efforts are taken to reduce chronic unemployment and unequal distribution of wealth.